Ray Tanaka: Finally, got to do another Pokemon story.
Victini: And just in time for your favorite holiday!
Ray: Too true. Mind giving the disclaimer?
Victini: Sure! The author doesn't own anything related to Pokemon!
The leafs of the trees and bushes in the Hoenn region have turned orange and yellow with many haven fallen off and littered the ground. During this time of the year, many tend to prepare themselves for the winter months ahead and rake up the fallen leafs in their yards and gardens. Though, on this night many have prepared themselves for the celebration of Halloween with children dressing up to go trick-or-treating and adults getting ready to hand out treats for them.
As night falls and a crescent moon is the only light for Littleroot Town, a small house stands with curtains in front of the windows yet the lights from inside still shown through them. This house belongs to the family of a trainer named Emerald, who along with his mother have left to join a party his father is hosting in Petalburg City. However, before leaving with his mother, Emerald had left his Pokemon in charge and allowed them to have their own party if they cleaned up before they returned home the next day.
In the trainer's room, a Grovyle stands in front of a mirror as he picks up a toy sword from a wooden stepping stool and placing it in its scabbard that is attached to a black belt around his waist. The scabbard is on the left side of his belt while on the right is a loop that has a toy shuriken with its three blades retracted into itself. He looks at himself in the mirror and takes a deep breath to relax himself.
This is Quincey, the starter Pokemon of Emerald and the one whose been with his trainer the longest among the Pokemon. Despite not wanting to really join most parties, tonight he was willing to make an exception. The first was that this was the first time most had been able to see each other in a few months and he didn't want to disappoint the others before their trainer left to continue his journey.
The second was that he wished to finally just admit his feelings to his crush.
Soon after he was chosen by his trainer, the two encountered a young Ralts that he helped his trainer capture as his second Pokemon. After getting to know her, Quincey had become enamored with the Ralts, now a Kirlia, who received the name 'Lucina'.
Seeing his cheeks turning red in the mirror, the Wood Gecko Pokemon turns his head away to look instead to the small, blue tailcoat made for him and the black necklace with a silver triquetra laying on top of it. Picking up the black necklace, the Grovyle takes the necklace in both hands and slips it over his head to have it rest around his shoulders.
Taking another breath, Quincey picks up the blue tailcoat from the stepping stool before slipping his arms through the sleeves. Messing with the coat a bit before looking into the mirror, he examines himself before smiling and giving a nod to his own reflection. Turning around, the Grovyle walks towards the door to go downstairs with him supposed to be dressed as a vampire hunter. However, before reaching the door, he notices a picture on a small bookcase and stays in place for a second before walking to it instead of the door.
Reaching the bookcase, the Wood Gecko Pokemon reaches up and takes the picture from the top of it and looks at the picture. He couldn't help but smile upon looking at a picture of a boy wearing a red and black shirt with him wearing a pair of grey pants and a white and green knit cap. Standing to the boy's right is a Kirlia while a Zigzagoon stands on his left with a Taillow sitting on his shoulder and a young Treecko on top of the boy's head. Looking at the picture, he couldn't help but let out a smile and his eyes starting to water.
"I wish you were here, Apollo," Quincey says, remembering the Taillow, "I bet you would've enjoy the party."
The Grovyle couldn't help but close his eyes as he fought back his tears. He understood that his friend did volunteer to a trade their trainer took part in recently, but it didn't make him leaving any easier. Placing the picture back on the small bookshelf, the Wood Gecko Pokemon takes a deep breath and opens his eyes before turning to the door.
"Time to go," Quincey tells himself as he heads to the door and leaves the room.
"Ah, you finally appear, Mr. Quincey."
Quincey stopped just before the final few steps of the staircase and looked up to see the Sableye sitting on the banister. The ghost type, with its gem-like eyes and its smile punctuated by the collar of a black cape around its neck and the black top hat it had, made it almost staring at the Grovyle with sinister intent.
"Hello, Orlok," the Wood Gecko Pokemon says, ending with a deep sigh of slight anger.
"That Count Orlok to you, Mr. Quincey," the Darkness Pokemon replies with a smirk, "You don't want to get on the bad side of a vampire."
"Well, Count Orlok," the Grovyle retaliates, drawing his fake sword, "I happen to be a vampire hunter and I know how to take your kind out."
Orlok stays silent for a moment before giving out a nervous chuckle and raising his hands from under his cape.
"H-hey, I was joking, Quincey," the Sableye tells him with his sinister smile replaced with one of slight panic, "I didn't mean what I said. We're friends, aren't we?"
The Grovyle almost felt like giving out a small chuckle, but refrains from doing so. He understood that the ghost type meant no harm and didn't want trouble. His sword may be fake, but getting hit by it would still hurt.
That, and the grass type did know Pursuit. The ghost type didn't want to get hit by either.
Placing his toy sword back in its scabbard, Quincey walks down the rest of the stairs and turned to enter the living room with the gentle music playing over the party. The room wasn't really that decorated with only some plastic pumpkins on some tables and furniture, but that was to be expected. They didn't really have much to decorate with and spent more time on making food for the party than messing with the decorations.
Well, the others did, anyway. He never was good at food preparation.
"Boo!"
"Gah!" Quincey shouts, jumping a bit and turning to his left to see the face of a Plusle from the hood of a white cloak with the clothing having a small, blue sash around the middle. The Grovyle tries to take deep breaths while the Plusle gives out an innocent chuckle.
"Sorry for scaring you, Quincey," the Plusle tells him in a young, feminine voice, "I just wanted to have some fun."
Taking a final deep breath, the Grovyle replies, "It's alright, Joule. At least it was you and not Orlok."
"Okay, Quincey," Joule says before running to the others in the room. The Wood Gecko Pokemon couldn't help but smile at how upbeat the young Pokemon was. Then again, coming from a species known as 'Cheering Pokemon', it actually suited her well.
Looking at the rest of the room, he sees the other Pokemon of his trainer socializing with others and enjoying the party. He spots a Zangoose with a brown cloak over his body and having a red helmet with a blue visor walking into a doorway that leads into the kitchen before spotting something out of the corner of his eye. Seeing Orlok walking to the same doorway made his start to sweat and silently hoping that Orlok wouldn't try to prank the Zangoose.
Feeling a tap on his shoulder, he turns to look to his right and finds an Armaldo standing next to him with a paper plate with some food on it.
"Hello, Quincey," the Armaldo says, a calm tone to his voice, "I like your costume."
"Thanks, Knecht," the Grovyle replies, giving a small smile to the Plate Pokemon. He quickly notices the Armaldo holding the paper plate to him close.
"Do you want these sugar cookies?" Knecht asks, "I think I've had my full at the moment."
Quincey look at the plate with two sugar cookies that were shaped like leafs with a pink frosting on them before gently grabbing the plate with his left hand.
"T-thank you," the Grovyle says with some hesitation.
"You're welcome, my friend," the Armaldo replies with a smile. Quincey kept a smile, but he couldn't help but think back to Apollo and took one of the cookies with his right hand. He took a bite of the cookie and noticed the mix of the sugar in it with the taste of Pecha Berry from the frosting.
"I saw that you kept Orlok from trying to prank you," Knecht tells the grass type, gaining his attention, "How were you able to keep him from pranking you?"
"Well, it was simple, actually," the Grovyle replies with a slight chuckle, "I stated that I was a vampire hunter and being able to handle someone like 'Count Orlok'."
"Ah, so you had him back off," the Plate Pokemon says with a nod, the Wood Gecko Pokemon quickly taking a second bite of the cookie, "Never thought you could do that with him. Guess you need to teach me a bit so he won't prank me again."
Quincey looks at his teammate before shaking his head while chewing. Swallowing, the Grovyle chuckles awkwardly as he tells him "Well, I didn't do that...at first. I was...actually taught by Sauria with some tips from Blacky."
Knecht blinks before looking over to the rest of the room and towards the couch where a Poochyena sitting on the couch is talking to a Breloom who has a grey scarf around his neck.
"I can see why," the Armaldo states as the Grovyle chews the remains of the first cookie, "A dark type would help you learn and...well, the other's simply the one the charge. Strange you aren't, though. You were the first Pokemon of Emerald, weren't you?"
Quincey swallows before giving a sigh before saying, "I was, but I don't have any authority. After Sauria came onto the team...I just allowed him to lead the others."
Nodding his head, Knecht doesn't question it further mostly since this situation didn't apply to him. He again looks to the rest of the room and scans the room while his friend picks up the second cookie from the paper plate. Before the Grovyle can take a bite of the cookie, the Armaldo quickly taps his shoulder to get his attention and points his claw to the rest of the living room.
Confused, the grass type turns his head and quickly gains a faint blush upon seeing two of his teammates across the room. A Linoone with an orange bandana around its neck is talking to Lucina, who has a green sash around her waist to make her "tutu" appear as a dress and wearing a necklace made of beads and small shards with two bracelets of similar make around her wrists. Quincey could feel himself starting to breath quickly and his body starts to tense a bit.
"She's pretty, isn't she?" Knecht asks his friend, making briefly jump and shaking his head a bit.
"Y-yeah," the Grovyle stutters as his blush darkening a bit, "She...she's beautiful."
The Armaldo chuckles a bit at the grass type, knowing his crush despite not having known him for more than a couple weeks. Hearing the music that has been playing, he gets a simple idea.
"Why don't you ask her to dance with you?"
Quincey looks at Knecht almost horrified by the idea.
"A-are you s-serious?" The Grovyle quietly asks, the fear apparent in his voice.
"Yeah," the Armaldo says in a matter of fact tone, "The set up is perfect. Just go ask."
The grass type gets a look of dread over his face as he asks, "In front of everyone?"
"Obviously," the rock and bug type states, "What else are you going to do, take her somewhere and just talk?"
Quincey blinks before his eyes look up towards the ceiling and the dread seems to be replaced with some thought.
"There's the tree outside," the Wood Gecko says, the tone of his voice no longer having fear.
The Plate Pokemon couldn't help but blink in confusion, but it does give him something to work with.
"Well, why not ask her to join you outside?" Knecht asks.
"...I can do that," the Grovyle says with some confidence before looking at the cookie in his hand, "Could I finish eating first?"
The Armaldo couldn't help but shaking his head and replying, "If it helps you calm down a bit."
"He's still standing over there," the Linoone says as she takes a glance across the room, "Figured he'd have come over by now."
Lucina couldn't help but smile and shake her head. Looking back at her friend, the Kirlia took a glance herself at the blushing Grovyle being talked about.
"Well, maybe it's the party, Mina," the Emotion Pokemon replies, "He isn't the person to take part in celebration."
"He could at least try," Mina says before giving a fake pout, "Maybe he'd enjoy the berry pie I made for the party."
"You just want another person saying your pie is tasty," Lucina states with a chuckle, "I figured you'd be fine when Sauria had some."
"Hey, I like seeing that," the Rushing Pokemon says with a smile, "Besides, I always like getting praise."
The Emotion Pokemon smiles as her hand on her forehead and says, "At least you're willing to admit it."
The Linoone shakes her head while smiling, knowing what her friend meant. She does enjoy having the attention of everyone, but sometimes she even annoyed herself from what she does. Looking back at the psychic type, she notices the grass type walking towards them.
"Here he comes," the normal type says quietly, "Get ready."
Lucina couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at her friend. She could feel the source of anxiety and slight fear approaching, she didn't need to be tipped off. Turning to her left, the Kirlia gives a small smile upon seeing Quincey with a smile and a faint blush across his cheeks. Mina turns to look at the grass type as she notices Knecht staying back where he was.
"Um...hi, Lucina," the Grovyle hesitantly says, his body seemingly tense.
"Hey," the psychic type says, her smile not wavering and the Linoone remains silent.
"So...um..." the grass type mutters, still a bit tense, "I...I was wondering if...I could ask you something."
"Alright," the Emotion Pokemon says, keeping herself calm while making sure not to giggle. She did find his shy behavior to be charming in a way and...that's one of the things she liked about him.
"Well...would you like to...join me outside?" The Wood Gecko Pokemon asks, getting a bit more comfortable, "I thought we could...just go out and hang out."
Lucina could feel her smile grow a bit and her heart flutter a bit just from him asking. Even if a dance would have been great, she did understand why he'd rather ask her to just hang out.
"I would-"
"Get back here!"
Everyone in the room jumped from the shout and the breaking of a vase made them turn to see Orlok being chased by the Zangoose with what looked like berry juice and pie crust on his helmet and cloak.
"You can't get me, Cloak!" The Sableye says with a laugh as he hops onto the banister and up the stairs. The Zangoose almost turns on a dime at the stairs and rapidly ascends the stairs after the ghost. Lucina wouldn't even need to look to see that Quincey had jumped and his anxiety was getting the best of him. Everyone remained quiet for a few minutes before the Breloom gave a heavy sigh and marched towards the stairs.
"Maybe we should go outside," Lucina whispers to the Grovyle, gently grabbing his hand as he looks at her. Nodding his head, Quincey starts to lead her towards the door while Mina looks at them with a smile.
Then her eyes widen in realization and goes to the kitchen as she asks herself, "Did Orlok throw my pie at Cloak?"
In the light of the crescent moon and the sea of stars, Quincey leads Lucina through the lawn towards a tree close to the house. They quickly reach the tree before the Grovyle lets go of the Kirlia's hand.
"Wait here, alright," the Wood Gecko asks, smiling after the Emotion Pokemon nods in understanding. Turning around, he jumps and grabs the bark with the claws on his right hand before quickly reaching up with his left hand. He grabs the tree again before reaching up with his other hand before grabbing a large tree branch with his left hand. Pulling himself up onto the branch, he turns around and looks down as Lucina looks at him with a bit of awe.
She always did envy the climbing ability that came naturally to his species even in their previous evolutions.
"Mind giving me a hand?" the Kirlia asks, knowing she'd need some help.
"Oh, right," the Grovyle mutters, a blush appearing in embarrassment. Despite this, he extends two vines from the collar of his tailcoat and have them descend to his teammate. She smiles as the vines reach her and grabs one with the other vine wraps around her waist. Taking a step forward, the Kirlia places one foot against the tree before raising herself to take another step. As she does, the Wood Gecko Pokemon moves his vines up to help her move up the tree.
This continues for about twelve seconds until the Emotion Pokemon reaches a tree limb next to the one the grass type is one and grabbing it. Pulling herself onto the branch, she sits on the branch as she feels the vine leave her waist before laying against the tree. Looking over, the psychic type sees her teammate laying against the tree as well with his vines disappearing back in the collar.
"Thanks," the Kirlia says, giving a small smile.
"N-no problem," the Grovyle replies quietly, still having a bit of red in his cheeks.
Both remain quiet for a bit, the only sound being heard between the two coming from the soft flutter of the leafs thanks to a light breeze. The silence was neither tense nor awkward, since both Pokemon were able to find comfort just sitting in the tree. For Quincey, being in any tree and just listening to the rustle of leafs always helped with his anxiety. On the other hand, Lucina really didn't mind the silence and enjoying the fact that she's currently sitting on a tree branch.
She had never been able to climb a tree, so she was just happy with what she accomplished. It isn't much, but the smaller victories are sometimes better than the greater ones.
Looking back at the grass type, she noticed a small gleam from his chest thanks to the moonlight that came through the leafs and branches above them. The psychic type quickly remembers the necklace she saw him wearing and...
...wait, what was it? She had never seen a shape like that before.
"Hey, Quincey," the Kirlia speaks up, getting his attention, "What's kind of necklace are you wearing?"
The Grovyle turns to look at her before his eyes widen in understanding and says, "Oh, this."
The grass type moves his hand to the pendant on the necklace and holds it out from his body to show its appearance to her.
"It's a triquetra," he tells the psychic type, "Since I'm dressed as a vampire hunter, I figured that it'd fit my costume."
The Emotion Pokemon blinks before saying, "Wouldn't a symbol of a Legendary work better?"
"This is a symbol of a Legendary," the Wood Gecko Pokemon replies, "In fact, it symbolizes Arceus and the Creation Trio."
Placing the pendant in the palm of his hand, he uses one of his claws to quickly trace over the top loop as he continues to speak.
"Giratina..."
His claw moves to the loop on the left of the pendent.
"...Dialga..."
The claw traces over to the loop on the right of the pendant.
"...Palkia..."
Finally, he traces over the circle that interlaces with the three loops.
"...and Holy Arceus."
Lucina silently watched him trace the pendant and listened while he talked. Despite having never seen the pendant's shape, she still found it intriguing and him explaining what it meant was...well, rather strange. It seemed like something Cloak or Sauria would explain than him.
"Did one of the others tell you that?" she asks, her curiosity haven been sparked.
"No, actually," Quincey answers, "I actually enjoy learning about vampire lore. I like reading some a few of the books that Emerald has and...well, figured a triquetra pendant would fit."
Looking over to her, he spots her necklace and bracelets before saying, "I find your jewelry intriguing. Did you make it yourself?"
"Oh, thank you," the Kirlia replies as she looks at the bracelet on her right wrist, "I had some help from Mina to make them. I used a few of the broken shards that Emerald had with a few shells he's collected for his mother."
The Grovyle nods, giving a soft chuckle as he remarks, "Guess his mother doesn't know about that."
"Well, we figured it'd be okay," the Emotion Pokemon replies, "She has a lot of shells and we figured she wouldn't notice."
She sees him give a shy smile as the grass type shakes his head. She couldn't help but smile as well, her senses finding joy and calmness replacing his anxiety and fear from earlier.
"I guess you're right," the Wood Gecko Pokemon tells her, "It's hard to recall how many times we helped collect shells for her."
The Kirlia thinks about it for a moment before saying with surprise, "Huh. I don't recall, either."
The two look at each other before they smiled at each other and slowly started to laugh at the fact. It seemed that them collecting shells alongside their trainer had become part of their normal routine when traveling. To the point that no one really questioned why they had to collect them.
As they calm themselves, Lucina looks at how happy her friend is and how much he's calmed down since they got outside. However, a light breeze past through the tree and she shivered from the cold that the wind carried.
Seeing her shivering, Quincey quickly asks, "You okay?"
Looking at him, the Kirlia hesitates a bit. On the one hand, she did want to lie and say that she was actually fine. However, she couldn't help but look at the tailcoat he's wearing and realizing why he didn't feel the breeze.
"Um...Quincey," she hesitantly asks, looking back at him with her cheeks becoming pink, "Could I...join you on your branch?"
She could even see the anxiety and nervousness from his emotions just from the large, red blush he gained. He looks away and she quickly does the same as the two allow a silence to hang over them. The Grovyle looks at her again just in time to see her body tremble as another light breeze passes through the tree.
Letting out a light sigh, he extends his two vines from his collar and they cross the foot long gap between the two branches towards the psychic type. Reaching her, they gently wrap around her waist again and she looks over at him, the grass type extending his left hand towards her.
"Yeah," the Wood Gecko Pokemon mutters, "J-just be careful."
Nodding, the Emotion Pokemon reaches her right hand out and grabs his hand as she moves to be in a kneeling position. Taking a chance, Lucina jumps forward and feels him pulling her towards him at the same time. She lands on Quincey's chest with him using his right hand to help stop her momentum and she swings her legs onto the branch. The two look at each other and the Grovyle gives her a soft smile, his vines retracting from her waist and returning as they vanish back into his collar.
"Thanks," the Kirlia says, wrapping her arms around his waist and snuggling a bit to get comfortable.
"Y-you're welcome," he replies, giving a soft chuckle to help calm himself a bit with his arms wrapping around her back.
This seemed almost too perfect for the Wood Gecko Pokemon. It seemed like the Taillow was simply flapping his wings ever so often to cause a breeze and-
...oh, right. Apollo wasn't here.
The Emotion Pokemon started to pick up on a slight pain and sadness from her friend. Needless to say, that did give her some concern.
"You okay, Quincey," she asks, her gaze up to look at him.
"Yeah," the Wood Gecko Pokemon says with a heavy sigh, "I was just remembering Apollo. I mean, Knecht is a good guy and he did tell he to do this, but..."
"...it isn't the same as Apollo," she finishes for him, "I miss that crazy Taillow too, but look on the bright side. There's always a chance we'll see him again."
Nodding his head, the Grovyle moves his gaze towards her with a soft smile on his face. The Kirlia returns the smile with her own, neither needing to really say anything else on the matter.
"Though," Quincey states, "There is something he wanted me to do if he ever did return."
Lucina's eyes perked in curiosity and her senses felt the shift of his emotions from sadness to a warmth she realized almost instantly. Despite knowing where this was heading, she nods her head softly.
"See..." the Wood Gecko Pokemon continued as he let out a sigh, "I know you found out already, but I do like you. If...if you mind...would you be...my girlfriend?"
The Emotion Pokemon could feel her smile grow before replying, "I've always liked you as well, Quincey. I will be your girlfriend if you wish to take things slowly."
The Grovyle smiles brightly as he places his head on top of hers and pulls her closer to him while she moves closer as well. Neither said anything, letting the gentle breeze that flutters the leafs around them be the only source of noise. For the grass type, the only thing missing from this entire scene was a Taillow congratulating him in getting his feelings out.
"Happy Halloween, Lucina," Quincey tells his girlfriend.
"Happy Halloween to you too, Quincey," Lucina replies as they allow the silence of the night and the rustling of leafs overtake them once more.
Ray Tanaka: And, done. I had a lot more to this story, but I had to cut some stuff out for time. I think it worked out for the better, actually.
Victini: Happy Halloween everyone!